In the News

The Arkansas man who dropped $3 million into the super PAC supporting Mike Huckabee‘s bid for the Republican presidential nomination for years handed out millions of dollars to a secret list of public charities through a pass-through private foundation called The Jesus Fund, tax forms filed by the foundation show. The Fund’s activity may violate…

Real estate mogul Donald Trump has toyed around with running for president many times before, only to decide later on that he wouldn’t do so. Earlier this week, however, “The Donald” — a man who constantly flaunts his wealth and in recent years made a habit out of questioning the validity of President Barack Obama’s…

Big money hates the underdog. But what happens when the underdog wins? The race to make amends with the newcomer is a mad dash down K Street after every election, and recent campaign disclosures show some striking turnabouts by big-league PACs. More than any favoritism for Democrats or Republicans, big PAC money most reliably supports…

Following mixed results in the 2014 midterms, Club for Growth last week announced a change of leadership. As of Jan. 1, former Indiana Rep. David McIntosh (R) will replace current Club president Chris Chocola, whose tenure saw the group go through ups and downs. Club chairman Jackson T. Stephens Jr. praised the outgoing president in…

In the sprint to Nov. 4, both parties are heaping mounds of cash on their state affiliates. With this election cycle shaping up to be the most expensive in history in terms of spending on congressional races, some state parties are now raising unprecedented amounts of money. In fickle Alaska, both national parties are leaving no stone unturned and…

After primary losses from Georgia to Idaho, the tea party’s prospects are boiling down to a small field for the Nov. 4 general election. Still, their sympathizers are prominent outside spenders as the days count down. Conservative Republicans popular with this set have weathered many a loss this season. Chris McDaniel, the firebrand state senator who…

It’s hard to sort out lobbyists’ motivations for making campaign contributions. But the top recipients of their donations so far this cycle are a bit of a surprise: Top Republican leadership and at-risk Senate Democrats.

The results in just a handful of Senate races in November 2014 — four, maybe five — will likely go a long way in determining which party will walk away from the midterm elections with a chamber majority. But challengers to the incumbents in these seats have more than name recognition issues to overcome. For now, according to second-quarter campaign committee filings, the incumbents hold a decisive fundraising advantage over their opponents.

Fancy dinners with members of Congress are all but verboten for lobbyists these days. But they can still make an impression with campaign contributions. An OpenSecrets.org analysis has crunched the available numbers from the 2014 election cycle.

On this day in 1897, London police arrested taxi cab driver George Smith in what has been reported to be the first-ever drunk driving arrest. One hundred and fifteen years later, drunk driving is a major concern in Washington, D.C., where advocacy and industry groups frequently lobby on the issue.

Feel free to distribute or cite this material, but please credit the
Center for Responsive Politics. For permission to reprint for commercial uses,
such as textbooks, contact the Center: info[at]crp.org

Except for the Revolving Door section, content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License by OpenSecrets.org. To request permission for commercial use, please contact us.